So....now what?

Again, moving forward.


So what now? We're down to a top heavy depth chart at defensive back in terms of experience. Once Williams, Rambo, Smith and Commings move on after 2012 we're left with:

Juniors - Deas  Harrow  Moore  Swann

Sophomores - Bowman and Dawson

That's it. Five scholarship defensive backs plus whoever we sign in the class of 2013. The other position affected by yesterday's news fairs little better:

Seniors - Wooten

Juniors - Bennett  Conley  Mitchell

Sophomores - Scott-Wesley

Freshmen - Tibbs (assuming a redshirt in 2012)

Just 48 hours ago I was mildly upset at only pulling in one receiver with this year's class. But comparatively speaking, Ball's squad is in much better shape moving forward than Lakatos'.

Which begs the question(s). Do we move Malcolm Mitchell to DB, at least part time? I think we'll at least attempt to sign some JUCO players to build depth. But don't we need to see what he can do on the other side of the ball this spring? Even if it's just a look?

Seay dismissed. Marshall next? (UPDATED)

UPDATE - Marshall's former high school coach says the defensive back is also done at UGA. Chris Sanders is also done.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sanford Seay has been dismissed from the team. Reportedly, Nick Marshall is also going to be dismissed. Fox 5 broke the news last night, but meetings on the issue are happening this morning.

Seay is accused of stealing money from another student in a university dorm room. It is believed that criminal charges will not be filed in the case.

Atlanta Fox 5 is also reporting that cornerback Nick Marshall will also be dismissed for the incident.

Seay redshirted last season as a freshman.

Marshall, from Wilcox County, recorded five tackles in 13 games with a role on special teams. He had designs on playing for the Bulldogs’ basketball team in future seasons and was viewed as athletic enough to offer playmaking abilities on offense as well.

Seay was a scout team player last season after arriving from Lee County High School. He was unlikely to be in the rotation at receiver this season.

At the very least Marshall is in a heap of trouble. If the allegations are true, Richt and McGarity have no choice. Guess they can always join Deion Bonner on Rocky Flop.

Signing Day: a look at 2012, then ahead to 2013

Someone evidently sneezed on the table of Butts-Mehre donuts. By Wednesday night I was wiped out. Hence, Thursday turned into National Sinus Day for me and I just couldn't get to any kind of analysis of what we learned on Wednesday (and in the case of JHC, Thursday morning). So in between doses of the dextromorphan...let me drop a couple pennies.


First, thanks to those who came by for the liveblog. Things on the floor weren't as exciting as NSD 2011, but it was still cool hanging out with y'all through the sinewy cyberwebs of teenage angst.


The pros. This class excites me for a lot of reasons. The first of which is how Richt and staff addressed needs and did it with authority. We have the top player from four states and the top player from Georgia the second year in a row. The greatest example of Georgia's aggressiveness on the class of 2012 recruiting trails is at the tailback position. Not one but two legitimate threats at running back will add instant depth. In this day and age where more and more 4 star and 5 star kids are looking to play early and often right away, getting two great backs like Gurley and Marshall is outstanding. And don't fall asleep on Quayvon Hicks. There's no redshirt in his future either. He has the talent to back up his winning atittude.


Next up would have to be the defensive front. Grantham got almost everyone he wanted and needed, even guys he was late to the sofa on. Jenkins, Taylor, Harvey-Clemons, Atkins...these fit the bill of putting defensive playmakers close to the line of scrimmage and molding them to wield their destructive force.


Pair those points with the fact that we sign two elite specialists to kick the ball and we have a really good class.


The cons. No mysteries unfortunately. Bummer.


It's hard to start on the offensive line when you get two guys that can probably start right away in Theus and Beard. But the fact is we've had classes before where we didn't super size the beef and eventually that comes back to hurt you. We had scholarships available and left them on the table by missing out on Avery Young and Brandon Greene (and of course the loss of Chester Brown hurts here too). Not all of it was the staff's fault as many felt Young would sign with Georgia. Yet we're forced to move forward with three.


Other positions of need that fell short were defensive back and wide receiver. I really thought we had Patterson and he would have been a nice compliment to Blake Tibbs. At defensive back we got the one at the top of Lakatos' board, but we're losing four starters after the 2012 season. This becomes a position of great need as well heading into the class of 2013. 


The Harvey-Clemons Situation. On second thought, more on this later. Suffice it to say I'm glad things worked out for the kid to go where he wanted to go.


Moving forward. With the hot seat talk laid to rest and a favorable schedule this Fall (not to mention a good start already), the 2013 class should be a big one for Georgia. Even bigger is that it's apparent that Coach Grantham is just as menacing on the recruiting trail as he is on the sidelines. He closed some big names for this class and hopefully that intensity can carry over well throughout the staff and into next year.


Speaking of next year, some names to keep an ear out for: 

• OL Trenton Brown from Georgia Military College. Huge already and almost ready to play at a big time college. Most of which are lining up to talk to the 6'7" 330lb behemoth.
• OL Laremy Tunsil of Lake City FL. Will likely be one of the top if not the top prospect from the Sunshine State in 2013. Great frame and can flat out block. Georgia wants this kid even more after losing Young.
• LB Reuben Foster of Troup Co. We signed plenty of pass rushers yesterday but will need some ILB help. While everyone is talking about Nkemdiche in Grayson, Foster will likely be the best player in Georgia for 2013's class. Currently committed to Bama.
• S Taj Letman of Holmes CC. We have Tray Matthews committed and he wants to enroll early, but we'll also need other DBs ready to step in and play. Letman could fit the bill as either a good sized corner or safety.

Those are just a few. A lot can happen in a year. But we're off to a good start for 2013 and might get at least three on campus by January. All in all I would say the Georgia staff is pretty hot right now. Having a handful of kids commit in the national spotlight will do that for you. 


Congrats to the new Dawgs on making a great choice. I think there's even more that are ready to do the same.

SEC Video: Signing Day Recap

Hannah Chalker updates us on the news from Signing Day in the SEC.

JHC's family finally finds the Staples button

Well, that was easy.

Grantham is ready for all SEC games, including little Vanderbilt bitches

By the time Coach Grantham made it to the Blind Pig yesterday, the crowd was primed and ready.

Grantham addresses crowd at 
Blind Pig on Signing Day    (h/t Ed P)

NSD Video: Richt addresses fans

I think I've decided to wait until later today or tomorrow to post some reactions. My brief summary is that this was a really good signing day for Coach Richt and Co. There are obvious concerns which we'll expound on. But overall we addressed some big needs with some quality players.


Now, onto the video. Kudos to Nama on the filmwork.

National Signing Day 2012

Ok, so you want to know what you're getting into here today. Well here are the links to previous NSD posts, both live and semi-live: 2011  2010  2009 That should give you a frame of reference. Here's some other reading material while we wait for Richt to turn on the fax machine.

- The Dawgcast's Annual Reverse Recruiting Show looks at the 2008 class and how it lived (or didn't live) up to expectations.

- Leather Helmet's  Signing Day Eve Thread and Podcast
- Tyler's perspective on NSD as well as some guesses on the mystery recruits
- Speaking of which, Dawg Day Afternoon has an idea who it is
- Chad Simmons' Signing Day Eve Insider Report ($$)
- ESPNs Recruiting Confidential - some top prospects "spill all" about life as a national recruit ($$)

The rules for the liveblog are simple: read, ask questions, make comments, be respectful. If you don't see your comment right away, be patient. We have to approve them manually and if there's something happening on the floor then the liveblog must take a brief backseat. We'll have pictures and videos up as well as bonus commentary. Also feel free to weigh in on a poll/trivia question.


Other than that, grab a comfortable seat, take the business phone off the hook and be ready for what is shaping up to be a GREAT DAY TO BE A BULLDOG! And if you like what you have here, by all means....click DONATE below. No amount too small and some prizes will be given away to at least three contributors.

On with the show...

NSD Liveblog - preview

The event reminder for tomorrow's liveblog is below. You can add your email address and it will automatically buzz you before the event goes live.

I'll have these links tomorrow as well. But in case you're looking for "prep work" right now, here's some stuff to get you up to speed, including links to previous NSD posts: 

2011  2010  2009  

The Dawgcast's Annual Reverse Recruiting Show looks at the 2008 class and 

how it lived (or didn't live) up to expectations.

Leather Helmet's  Signing Day Eve Thread and Podcast

Tyler's perspective on NSD as well as some guesses 

on the mystery recruits

Speaking of which, Dawg Day Afternoon has an idea who it is

Chad Simmons' Signing Day Eve Insider Report ($$)

ESPNs Recruiting Confidential - some top prospects "spill all" 

about life as a national recruit ($$)

Recruiting Roundup: NSD Eve, part two

With those preliminaries out of the way, onto some updates.

Sheldon Dawson committed last night

• Sheldon Dawson, all Dawg! Tennessee's top prospect becomes Georgia's 17th commitment.
• Dawson's commitment is huge for many reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that he is the Dawgs' first DB commit in this class. He can be a big playmaker all over the field.
• Josh Harvey-Clemons will apparently narrow his choices down to two schools this evening on a local radio show. Hard to give an educated guess since he and his family are pretty well bunkered in. But if you twisted my arm I'd say Florida and Georgia.
• Brandon Greene says he's all Bama. But he's evidently bringing two hats to his announcement on Wednesday. I can see this either of two ways: 1) after pissing Saban off by visiting Athens he doesn't want to lose his place at the Tide table, so he keeps saying he's Bama despite the fact that he wants at least some intrigue in his LOI ceremony. 2) he wants to surprise everyone Wednesday and get as dramatic as possible. Regardless, I think he's still one to watch.
• Rumors of Chester Brown possibly being able to navigate through the immigration issues and sign with Georgia appear to be dead. He'll sign tomorrow ($$) with a new school at a new position.
• Other rumors about the mystery recruit(s) abound. Who could they be? Another defensive back? Another big offensive lineman?

Once again, here are the times for tomorrow's announcements, along with my prediction for where they sign.

Dalvin Tomlinson - 8:45 Bama

Jaquay Willliams - 8:45 Auburn

Josh Harvey-Clemons - 9:00, ESPNU Georgia

Brandon Greene - 9:00 Bama

Kenderious Whitehead - 9:00 NC State

Will Redmond - 9:30 Miss State

Josh Dawson - 10:00 Georgia

Cordarrelle Patterson - 11:30 Georgia

Avery Young - 2:00, ESPNU Georgia

Lastly, this class is shaping up to be a good one. I don't really get into recruiting rankings and who has how many stars and all that. Instead, I think it's important to address needs, make every effort to sign the talent in Georgia and build quality depth for the future. I think we have a really good chance to cover those bases tomorrow. Should be a fun day! Hope you'll join us.